NEW ORLEANS, La. – Two meets into the outdoor season, the Lipscomb track and field athletes are already being ranked as potential championship competitors.

The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released the National Team Computer Rankings Tuesday.

The ranking system is based on top marks during the current outdoor season that is then combined with the top 2013 marks by returning student-athletes. After these marks are recorded, the USTFCCCA computers generate a ranking of Division I teams and individuals predicted to make it to the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.

Individual Lipscomb athletes can also be found on the computer’s list of projected championship participants.

Tucker Peabody is ranked 42nd in the 100 meters and 20 in the 200 meters.

Gemikal Prude, recent contestant in the NCAA I National Indoor Championships, ranks 31 on this list in the high jump.

Madi Talbert is ranked 21st in the 3000 meter-steeplechase rankings. She is also a returning NCAA I National Finals qualifier in the steeplechase as well as defending Atlantic Sun champion in the 3000 meter-steeplechase.

Talbert is currently ranked fifth overall in the nation, second in the East, and first in the A-Sun after her outdoor season debut at the Shamrock Invite this past weekend.

While the USTFCCCA computers may not be predicting them to make it to the big dance just yet, there is no doubt Sally Larson and Kelsey Ibarra are following close behind their already ranked teammates.

Larson and Ibarra both earned national rankings this past weekend at the Shamrock Invite in the 10,000 meters. Larson landed a third-place national ranking while Ibarra is ranked sixth in the nation in the event.

The men’s track and field team is ranked 132 out of 199 programs on this list, while the women’s track and field squad holds a ranking of 136 out of 210 programs.

Lipscomb track and field continues to rise to a higher level every season. These preseason individual rankings are the best thus far and show positive progression towards their goal of competing at the top of NCAA Division I.

While the rankings are not guaranteed tickets to the big show, Lipscomb’s track and field squads continue to improve drastically with hopes of fulfilling their intentions of becoming national champions.